August 14, 2010

Product Review: Neutrogena Healthy Skin Blends

This sheer highlighting blush claims to provide the following benefits:

1. Sheer, illuminating, healthy color with subtle highlights

2. Shades blend together to work on multiple skin tones

3. Multi-vitamins and botanical conditioners soften and smooth skin

The product also includes a travel-friendly blush brush.

Let's go over this claim by claim.

Sheer factor:

The first few times I applied this blush I couldn't really tell that I was wearing any. And when I did, I was sad to realize that I went a little heavy handed on one cheek and light handed on the other cheek. Yes, this is a sheer blush, but the color and intensity can be built up. I don't really see the purpose in a sheer blush since blushes are meant to be seen, which makes me believe that I am actually using more product to get a color that I like. I'm not a person who likes obviously blushes cheeks, so I don't think I'm going overboard with color.

Illuminating factor:

Only one of the 4 colors in this palette has some shimmer to it, but it can be overlooked by the other shades that are somewhat less shimmery and more matte. In terms of overall effect, I don't see any noticeable shimmer. I like to my makeup to be multifunctional so this product also works as my eyeshadow. The lightest color also does not work as a highlighter or illuminator of any sort.

Healthy color with subtle highlights factor:

Healthy color? YES!! I bought this particular palette because it looked the peachiest of the set. And I am very pleased with the healthy peachy color that I'm getting from this. I love the fact that when I look at myself throughout the day, this blush also has bronzy undertones to it. So yes, throughout the day one can look incredibly healthy and full of vigor! When I use this on my eyes, I can mix and match any two colors so that my eyelids don't look exactly the same as my cheeks and I have subtle color all over the parts of my face that need color. With regards to the subtle highlights, SUBTLE is the operative word. I cannot see highlights in this product at all.

Shades blend together to work on multiple skintones factor:

Well, the shades to blend well together, and they also work well as duos and single shades. Seeing as how I'm devoid of female friends and my skin is the only skin I see, I can't say anything about it working on multiple skintones. (It's so sad but it's true that I haven't seen a girlfriend face to face in a year now...) However, considering that this is a very buildable blush, I could definitely imagine that this would be able to work on multiple skintones.

Softening and smoothing skin factor:

I do notice that my skin does feel smooth to the touch, but I'm not sure if the multivitamins or botanical conditioners are at work. Take this claim with a grain of salt unless there has been a clinical study. I do know that makeup nowadays is more advanced, so this could easily be true. However, I am working on my skincare regimen, so I don't know if advanced makeup is making my skin soft, or if my skincare regimen is doing it, or what.

Brush factor:

This brush is convenient and can be used when you have nothing else. But please be aware that this brush is not very good quality. The brush actually feels like nylon threads. Their stiffness really gouges out the product and makes it super powdery.

Other comments:

I'm in a phase of makeup when I want to be minimalist again. So I'm trying to find the best uses for my makeup. Now, regarding this product, I love that it is mosaic style, so I get multiple colors to use to my pleasure. The only bad thing is that if I continue to get a mosaic blush that I can use for my eyes, my eyes will forever be peachy or pinky (?). Not a bad thing, just one downside to my preference for multifunctional stuff.

I'm also finding that I'm terrible at applying blush with a brush because my application is so uneven. I can't get the size of the blushed area right, meaning that one cheek has more blushed area than the other. Nor can I get the amount of product right, meaning that one cheek is more pigmented than the other. Egads! Same thing with eyeshadows. So I have learned that my hands and fingers are the best tools possible. I apply this blush to my cheeks, eyes and lips with my fingers (must wash and clean between applications to avoid germs). It works great for me.

I have used this product in conjunction with vaseline for my lips. The combination is great. My face looks pretty healthy color-wise and (lol) color coordinated. A note about this blush as a lip color. Because it is powder, it goes on matte over whatever lip conditioner I'm using. It is also sheer. The problem with applying the conditioner first and then the powder over it is that the powder is drying and your lips will start to look dried as well. However, if you apply the powder to your slightly conditioned lips and then go over with more lip conditioner, you can get a nice color enhancement to your natural lip color.

My Rating:

I give this a 4/5. But it is important to know what you are rating it for based on your own priorities. For me, my priority is color. Since this product gives me just the right color that I want, I love it!! I just wish that the highlighting shade had a little bit a shimmer to it. I don't want the entire palette to be shimmery.

That's all folks!

(Oh, yeah, the color doesn't look as dirty as it does in my picture. It's the glare and reflection from my window to the plastic cover of the product's package.)